Below The Surface
by BlairSpinX
Summary: Kyrie is doing what she loves more than anything else in the world: spending time with the love of her life. But being in a relationship isn't always roses and petals, sometimes you have to deal with some thorns too. NeroxKyrie
1. Chapter 1

**A story I had in my old ancient procrastinator archive of unpublished/unfinished fanfics.**

 **-shakes head at self- ~Blair**

 **Chapter 1**

The sounds of voices with underlying dramatic music echoed throughout the room, which was lit only by the electric glow of the flat screen telly. It was a quiet winter evening and the two occupying the living room had settled in on this cozy Friday night to spend some quality time together.

However, as irony revealed itself, the telly ended up watching the two on the couch as their attention was diverted from the old 90's horror film and was, instead, placed on each other. Kyrie lay pinned to the couch, eyes closed and brows furrowed as she felt warmth and chills flowing up and down her spine. Her imagination was going wild and she was feeling overwhelmed in the moment, she didn't know what to do or think. Well...she did think one thing.

'I love him so much...' she kept saying in her mind repeatedly.

Her dainty hands ran all over his back and through his hair as he planted gentle kisses on her neck. With every contact of his lips, it felt like her neck was on fire. He lay comfortably between her legs with his full weight resting against her. She blushed ferociously as she thought about how their bodies touched. Almost wishing they were...

'No. Stop it.' Kyrie thought.

Kyrie didn't even want to introduce any kind of what-ifs; no more than she was already contending with that is. She had made up in her mind that she would wait until they were married. They both agreed. Point blank. No exceptions. However, a rendezvous like this was not making it easy. Not by a long shot.

Kyrie let out a soft moan before his name pushed it's way out of her lips.

"Nero..." her voice echoed out.

His snowy hair felt like silk as it danced onto her reddened cheeks when he moved his head slightly to lock eyes with her. Kyrie could see the nearly drunken passion in his eyes as he looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Nero breathed out.

His face was totally red and the blush ran all the way down his otherwise ivory neck, disappearing into the collar of his t-shirt. Kyrie found herself at a loss of words as she got lost in his hypnotic blue eyes. Her lips were parted, but English did not find its way out. Nero leaned in, softly kissing her pink lips as he grabbed one of her hands and intertwined his fingers with hers. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head slightly as Kyrie lay there, still and speechless.

Kyrie's mind was going a million miles a minute. She wanted his kisses, she liked where they were, but she feared that if they continued eventually passion would capture them both, stripping them of their clothes and driving them to do the forbidden. Kyrie knew Nero was confused but she still couldn't remember what she wanted to say. She swallowed hard as she saw his eyes float down her body. And when she didn't speak, she guessed he took that as an invitation to pick up where he left off...

Kyrie's eyes clenched shut as his lips made contact with her neck once again, but this time, accompanied by his hand on her thigh. Her breath hitched as she felt his tongue slide up her neck. She let out a cry as she impulsively wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, encouraging him to keep going. She heard him grunt softly and felt his hand slip up under her over sized T-shirt, and rest on her shorts at the hip.

'Oh no,' she thought, 'I have to...'

Her thoughts were interrupted as he connected their lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth.

'He tastes so...sweet' she thought as she let out a frustrated moan and ran her delicate fingers through his hair.

Nero moaned and smacked her thigh when she gently gripped his tresses, but instead of letting go, she felt him squeeze as his hand made contact. Kyrie arched her back and pulled her lips away from his as she let out a passionate cry at the impact of his hand.

Nero hissed and tightened his grip, closing his eyes as her body pressed harder against his.

"Kyrie..." he responded in a husky voice.

Biting his lip, he looked down at her. She stared back up at him trying hard to not plead with her eyes what she knew she needed not to plead for. The longer they locked eyes, the more she thought she saw what was a mix of passion and confliction swirling in his. Then she suddenly felt him move his hips ever so subtly. Adjusting herself, she continued staring intently into his eyes as she felt him move again, sending a shiver through her body.

Her mind went blank and without thinking, she felt herself push her hips back against his. After a beat, he pushed again and she repeated. Before she knew it, they slowly and nervously began grinding on one another as Nero lowered his head and started kissing her neck again.

Kyrie knew they needed to stop this. This was getting really dangerous for them both and she knew that sin was crouching at their door, waiting to devour them in the blink of an eye. But for some reason she felt like she couldn't stop herself. The more she tried, the more her body resisted and cried out for him.

As their movements became slightly more aggressive, she found herself moaning at the feelings she began experiencing.

'Please stop.' she begged herself in her mind. This was not okay and she knew it. Fear slowly crept its way into her mind.

"Nero..." she said aloud, "we have to st-" Kyrie was cut off as she felt him push harder.

She realized his feelings were threatening to overpower him in this moment too. She loved him so much and wanted him so badly, but not like this. Not before they got married. Suddenly, waiting felt very difficult and she wanted to cry because the feelings were so strong.

'God help me...' Kyrie thought.

She knew she needed the strength to stop this and not end up giving herself to him right then and there. Surely, the strength to do this could not possible come from her as her body was pushing her further to venture into the uncharted and dangerous territory of fornication.

"Nero... we... have to stop." She finally forced those words out as she grabbed Nero in order to still him.

Nero suddenly froze and pulled back to look at her. Kyrie felt tears pooling in her eyes as he looked at her but she fought back the urge to cry. These feelings are the toughest ones to fight, but Kyrie knew it was for the best that they not give in too soon. Wisdom had taught her that it was more blessed to wait until their union before consummating and becoming one with him.

"Kyrie..." Nero said as his hands reached up and cupped her cheek.

Kyrie stared at him and held his hand to her face. She saw his eyes darting back and forth before he looked away with a sad expression on his face.

"I'm so sorry..." he said.

Nero slowly pulled away from her, and stood up from the couch. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. Kyrie felt a cold rush of air on her legs when he separated from her and she straightened her shirt as she sat up.

"I'm so sorry..." Nero repeated lowly as he looked down at the floor.

"Nero..." Kyrie began.

Without a doubt she knew in her heart that he was blaming himself for what had just almost occurred. She couldn't let him do that, not when she had been just as guilty as him. Maybe more...

"It's okay, we just got a little carried away that's all." Kyrie tried to emphasize her inclusion in their moment of weakness as best as she could.

But Nero didn't respond. He only turned his head slightly to look at her. After a moment of silence, Nero finally spoke.

"You were about to cry..."

Kyrie didn't know what to say. She was hoping he hadn't noticed that, but apparently he did. Nero's silent gaze lingered a bit longer before he turned and began walking out of the room towards the hallway.

"Nero, where are you going?" Kyrie said as she stood up to follow him, but he kept walking away...

She heard his bedroom door close in the distance and she felt a small pain in her heart. Slowly sitting back down on the couch, she brought her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

'What just happened? Why did he leave like that?' Kyrie thought to herself.

She knew Nero had a tendency to be hard on himself and wondered if he believed he was the blame for her tears... But instead of opening up about it, he put up his walls and hid his emotions. Kyrie hated when he did that, because she knew it was not good for him. Enough was enough, she felt like she had to do something about this, before stress took a toll on him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

She stood up and began walking to Nero's room. When she reached his door, she stopped and listened before knocking. No answer. Kyrie took a deep breath and opened his door. It was dark in his room, but she could see his silhouette lying on the bed. The moonlight shined through the sheer curtains illuminating his eyes as he stared up at the ceiling. She slowly closed the door behind herself and stared at him, but he didn't say anything. He didn't even move.

"Nero." she called.

He looked at her, but still said nothing.

"Talk to me. Please?" she asked hoping he would tell her what he was feeling.

"About what?" he asked.

"Why did you leave like that?" she inquired.

"Had to." Nero responded.

"What?" Kyrie was not expecting him to say that, "Had to?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because," Nero began, "I just did."

Kyrie furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Nero," she replied, "why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? I'm not doing anything Kyrie."

"But you are." Kyrie was beginning to feel knots in her stomach. His tone sounded detached and somewhat cold.

"No i'm not." Nero re-focused his attention to the ceiling.

"I can't believe this right now Nero." Kyrie began to feel a lump in her throat as tears threatened her eyes again.

"Believe what? What am I doing Kyrie? I just want to think right now," Nero responded.

"Why won't you just talk to me Nero?" Kyrie responded as she stomped her foot a little. She was starting to feel frustrated at his evasiveness.

"I _am_ talking to you, but I don't know what you want from me." Nero stated.

"I just told you. I want to know why you left like you did. But you wont tell me. You never do..." Kyrie was glad the lights were off as tears began to stream down her face.

"I told you, I just had to Kyrie. Just leave it at that." Nero said as he took a deep breath.

Kyrie turned and opened the door, walking out and heading back to the living room. She sat down on the couch and put her hands over her face as her tears flowed freely. She suddenly wanted to go home and just be by herself for a while. All she wanted was for him to talk to her and tell her what was going on with him, but he wouldn't, he just wouldn't. It was all so confusing to her and it broke her heart that he wouldn't open up and tell her what was wrong. She wanted to try to help him. She hated when he was upset, especially if it had anything to do with her.

She stood up and got her purse and started packing up the things she had brought with her. Maybe it would be best to just leave him to his thoughts and cut this evening short, that way she wouldn't be tempted to aggravate him further with her growing concerns. But as she packed, she heard the distant sound of a door opening. She refused to move because she didn't want him seeing her crying again.

"What are you doing?" Nero asked.

"I'm just getting my stuff Nero," she started without turning to look at him, "It's probably best if I go home..."

"Kyrie wait, just... don't go." Nero responded.

"Nero, please, let's just call it a night. Okay?" Kyrie replied.

"Why?" Nero asked.

Kyrie could sense something in his voice, but at this point she just wanted to leave. She would focus on surviving the drive home without trying to pry further.

"Because, I don't want to make anything worse. You said you wanted to think, so I just want to give you space." Kyrie stated.

"No Kyrie," Nero started, "please...I..."

"Nero, I just want to go home." Kyrie's tears kept falling.

Nero grabbed his keys from the telly stand and sat on the couch resting his head in his hands and looking at the floor.

"Please don't leave," Nero choked out.

"Why Nero? Why shouldn't I?" Kyrie was getting even more upset because he was giving her a hard time when she was only doing what she thought he wanted. She started feeling besides herself.

"First you walk out, then you won't tell me what's wrong." Kyrie began firmly, "You wanted time to think and now i'm trying to give you that. So why shouldn't I leave Nero?" She turned to look at him to show him how serious she was about this.

"Because..." he said lowly, still looking at the floor.

"Because _why_?" She didn't mean to, but the frustration was apparent in Kyrie's voice now.

"Because I love you!" Nero yelled as he looked at her with tears streaming down his face.

Kyrie was taken aback as she saw that he was crying. The calmness in his voice had not let on at all. Her heart beat fast as she began to think that something was very wrong now. Nero never cried about much of anything. The only other time she could remember seeing him cry was when...

Nero continued to speak.

"I love you so much Kyrie, you don't even understand. I'm not trying to hurt you, i'm trying to _protect_ you!" Nero was raising his voice and he stood up from the couch before he continued. Kyrie stayed firm in her position as she looked up at him.

"You want to know why I walked away? You really want to know?"

Kyrie pursed her lips, trying not to burst into tears as she nodded. She had no idea what was coming next and frankly, she was a bit scared.

"I want to make love to you so bad, I feel like it's killing me." Nero's voice shook as he spoke and he stepped towards her, "You just don't understand how close I was to losing control without even realizing it." Nero looked away with a scowl on his face.

Kyrie heard him, but she didn't understand what he was getting at. Didn't he know that she came close to the very same loss of control?

"When you told me to stop, I came back to my senses..." Nero said in a low voice, "But when I looked at you...and saw you crying, I just..."

Kyrie looked on in silence as he bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, clenching his fists at his side. What could possibly be tormenting him this much? Surely this was the first time they had gotten so deeply lost in passion that they almost crossed the line, but how is it that they were not feeling the same reaction towards the situation? The important thing was that they stopped before it was too late. Right?

Nero opened his eyes and looked at her.

"...Did you want it?" Nero choked out as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Kyrie furrowed her brows in confusion. What did he just say? It was obvious to her now that he didn't know how much she was struggling too. Maybe he wasn't the only one who needed to open up about some things. Kyrie thought deeply and before long, something dawned on her. And she didn't like it. Not one bit. She was almost offended...

"Did I want it?" Kyrie repeated, thinking maybe if she said it, it would take on a different meaning than what she was thinking he meant by it.

Nero said nothing.

"I can't believe you Nero..." she began, "You must think i'm some kind of perfect person who couldn't possible feel those things that 'bad people' would feel. Is that what you think of me Nero?"

She saw him open his mouth to speak but she continued, determined to find out if her suspicions were true.

" _Did I want it_? You think if we go that far, it would be just because _you_ wanted it and _not me_?" she didn't want to be so direct, but she decided to go forth anyway.

"In other words Nero, you would rationalize it to be _rape_?"

Nero looked away from her, confirming her assumption. She had never wanted to smack him upside his head before, but in this moment, she wanted to knock it right off his shoulders. Where in the world did he learn to think such crazy things? But even so, it hurt her to know that he believed she couldn't return the feelings he had for her because it wasn't the right time to act on them.

"Well?" Nero's low voice cut into her thoughts.

Kyrie was angry and hurt. She hated being falsely thought of as this perfect girl with no problems or struggles. He just didn't get it.

"Of course I wanted it Nero!" she said, now raising her voice a bit, "I wanted it to happen just as much as _you_ did!"

Nero blinked and furrowed his brows.

"Was it proper? No. But that doesn't mean I didn't feel it. I'm human too Nero!" she looked him straight in the eyes, "You would have known that a lot sooner if you hadn't closed up and walked away."

"It's just that, I felt like..." Nero began, but Kyrie cut him off again.

"No. No Nero. I'm not going to let you just take the blame,when we both wanted the same thing! I _want_ to give myself to you, because I love you too! If you think I don't struggle with controlling my feelings too, you're dead wrong. I want you just as bad Nero!" Kyrie stared at him as she finished speaking hoping she had gotten through to him.

The room was silent as they gazeded at each other. That is, until Kyrie broke the silence with another much needed point to emphasize. Since they were here, why not lay it all out in the open?

"I don't like when you lock up and don't tell me what's going on. It hurts me when I know something is wrong and you refuse to let me in, so we can work it out together. It's not fair. Don't you trust me?"

"You know I do Kyrie..." Nero responded.

"Then why do you do that to me?" Kyrie wanted answers although she believed she had an idea of what was going on now, "Do you think you have to hide from me?"

Kyrie closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I wish you'd understood that i'm a human being just like you Nero. I'm no more perfect than you or anyone else on this planet." she said, "I have no room or interest to judge you or anyone." She didn't realize tears streamed down her face until she saw water dripping onto the floor.

As she lifted her eyes to meet his, she watched him slowly close the distance between them and wrap his arms around her. In the back of her mind, Kyrie believed his reaction had nothing to do with him thinking that he was forcing himself on her. Nope. It had everything to do with acceptance. Everything to do with him thinking Kyrie judged him to be some kind of monster, instead of an imperfect human being like her and everyone else.

Maybe he knew all this and just needed to hear her say it. Or maybe he truly didn't know and needed her to tell him her thoughts. Whatever he needed, she was more than willing to give it as long as he brought it to her attention instead of shutting down. It's silly to think that anyone has room to judge anyone else when all people struggle with the same thing, though it looks different from person to person.

Love covers a multitude of sins. Does that make sin any less wrong or any less in need of correction? No, of course not. She knew that as long as progress is being made towards getting better, people and the relationships they're in will also get better and stronger. But to love someone despite what their sin looks like as they grow through it, reveals a God-given ability in a person that surpasses natural tendencies. It's supernatural.

Kyrie wanted Nero to know that she had her fair share of struggles too. That she was not this perfect and squeaky clean little girl that he was creating her in his mind to be. Being perfect was an unfair standard to hold any person to. She felt that if he understood that, maybe he would change the way he reacted to some things when it came to her.

"I'm sorry." Nero said in a low voice that was just barely above a whisper, "I never meant to hurt you. I just...I guess I didn't know what to do."

Kyrie could understand that. Sometimes she didn't know what to do when it came to Nero either. In a way, she was glad this had all transpired because a hidden issue was able to come to the surface and get taken care of. This sort of thing could have had an explosive result in the long-run had it gone unchecked. Kyrie thanked God that it didn't get that far.

Wisdom had always told her that there was a deeper and more serious problem at the root of every unpleasant experience, and that was further validated on this night. It's just a matter of looking below the surface of the situation at hand, recognizing the core of where the issue is coming from, and dealing with that.

"I'm so sorry baby." Nero repeated as he pulled her back gently to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry too." Kyrie responded, coming out of her thoughts.

No one said anything more as Nero's lips came down onto hers. Kyrie wrapped her arms around his neck as he gripped her waist and slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. Then Nero pulled back and rested his forehead on hers.

Blue eyes locked with brown ones and Kyrie anticipated another kiss, but to her surprise, Nero let go of her waist, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweat pants and sitting down on the couch. Kyrie looked confused.

Nero scratched his head and glanced at her "If we were married," he started, "this would be the...uh...part where we...have make-up sex...so...yeah."

The awkward look on his face almost made Kyrie burst out laughing. She smirked and put a hand to her mouth, now understanding his sudden actions. She looked at the floor, blushing like mad, while sitting down next to him as he brought an arm around and pulled her close. A somewhat awkward and comfortable silence filled the air.

"Will you please stay Kyrie?"

Kyrie was a bit confused for a moment but then remembered as she looked at her packed belongings on the floor.

"Yes Nero, I will stay" she said before looking up at him and kissing him lightly on his nose.

He hugged her tighter and smiled as she smiled back at him.

"Good." Nero responded.

He picked up some popcorn from a bowl next to the couch and playfully threw it at her.

"Hey!" Kyrie giggled as she grabbed a pillow and smacked him in the face with it.

Nero's hair flew back and he grunted at the impact before he grabbed more popcorn and pelted her with it. Laughter filled the air as the two resumed their evening of movies and snacks. Kyrie knew that from here on, they had to be careful and know their limits. They had vowed to wait until marriage and that's what they would do. No exceptions, even if that meant refraining from some things in order to honor that. Because with the special love they shared, in the long run it would prove to be worth waiting for.


End file.
